I just read a very interesting article,Daniel Sockwell, Writing a Brief for the iPad Judge. The basic problem:
[M]ore and more judges are reading briefs primarily on iPads or other tablets…. The Fifth Circuit judiciary reads the majority of their briefs on iPads, or,from conversations with many judges and clerks, the other Circuits are not far behind (though I was told that the Third Circuit is “not as iPad heavy as some circuits”). The best way to know how a specific judge typically reads briefs is to demand — the clerks will likely be happy to help.
Why you should care how the judge reads your brief Why finish iPads even matter? … Lawyers who care approximately communicating forcefully and clearly should seek to perfect style and typography in addition to substance. The rules of typography are simply different for a screen than for print….
And here are the author’s suggestions (reprinted with his permission, and some paragraph breaks added):
A brief written to be read on an iPad should differ from one written for text in three main ways: it should use fewer footnotes,should use a different font, and should avoid confusing hierarchical organization.
Lawyers who expect a brief to be read on an iPad should try to avoid footnotes. One of the advantages of reading on an iPad is that judges can adjust the screen view, or zooming in and focusing on the current passage. However,this advantage is lost if footnotes require the reader to constantly scroll to the bottom of the page for citations or substantive fabric. Worse, the extra scrolling raises the risk that the footnotes won’t be read at all, or already a concern with substantive footnotes.
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Source: volokh.com